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Alexander Romance (pseudo-Callisthenes):
Then he reached a land where he found strange and exquisite fruits the like of which he had never seen. And when the citizens came to Alexander, he asked them about the wonders of their land. They said, “O King, in our land there are many wonders. This region is the end of the earth and close to the Land of Darkness. It has twenty-four gates and a large population. We had a king, but he is no more. There is no king or judge in this land. The poor and the rich are the same. We have no locks to our gates, storehouses, and lodgings.” … Alexander marveled at them and he asked them what their religion was. “We worship the God of heaven and earth. We call upon him, and we do nothing but worship him by day and night.” “Who taught you this religion and this truth?” asked the King. “A man called Khiḍr,” they replied. And as they were speaking thus, Khiḍr appeared. He came to the king and embraced and greeted him. Alexander rose, and, embracing Khiḍr, said, “Praised be God who granted me to see you.” “Do you intend to go to the Land of Darkness?” asked Khiḍr. “Yes,” said Alexander. “What do you seek there?” asked Khiḍr. “I hope to find the Water of Life,” replied the King. … And nobody knew about Water of Life except King Alexander, Aristotle the Sage, and Khiḍr. …
Alexander put all his army under Khiḍr’s rule, and they departed from that region and reached another land. … Alexander knew that he could not reach the Land of Darkness except through him, and put his entire army under Khiḍr’s rule. On their way they reached a land where the fields and pastures were full of cows and sheep. And the prophet Khiḍr would go before the army during the day, but when the army stopped for rest, he would disappear. … They moved from there and reached another land situated within five days’ distance from the Land of Darkness. … But Alexander did not tell his men that the goal of his journey was to find the Water of Life. He said to them that he was going to Jabalqa, on the mountain of Qaf. He stayed there for a month. And Khiḍr would disappear during the night and reappear in the morning. Alexander prepared for the journey and the next day entered the Land of Darkness. His men were reluctant to enter that region. For four consecutive months they could not tell the day from the night. Alexander followed Khiḍr, who went before his army. The columns were so long that when the vanguard came to rest, the end of the column was still moving.
One day Khiḍr, peace be upon him, dropped something from his hand. As he picked it up, his hand came against water. He discovered a spring, the water of which tasted like honey. He knew that it was the Water of Life and drank from it. Khiḍr had never tasted anything like that before. He said his prayers, and without telling the soldiers that he had drunk of the Water of Life he ordered them to stay where they were until he returned, warning them that if they moved one step further, they would perish. And he himself hurried to King Alexander, taking the rein of his steed, which happened to be young mule. “Oh Alexander,” he said. “I have drunk from the Water of Life and I have found the spring. … “ … But when they returned to the spring it had disappeared. … The King was sick at heart and full of regret; all his efforts and hopes had been defeated. After seven days, they departed and continued on their way until they left the dark and came upon daylight.
Source (list of abbreviations)
Alexander Romance (pseudo-Callisthenes)
Bibliography
| Dalley 1994 | Dalley, Stephanie. “The Tale of Buluqiya and the Alexander Romance in Jewish and Sufi Mystical Circles.” In: J. C. Reeves (ed.). Tracing the Threads. Studies in the Vitality of Jewish Pseudepigrapha. Atlanta: Scholars Press 1994, 239-269. |
| Southgate 1978, 54-58 | Southgate, Minoo S. Iskandarnamah. A Persian Medieval Alexander-Romance. New York: Columbia University Press 1978. |
Amar Annus
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